We are not even holy and feel hurt when others offend us. Now, our Lord is totally holy and blameless, imagine how much he would feel hurt when we offend him!
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
**Faith Essential
Faith is essential to believing in God. Without faith, I can force myself to believe in God as hard as I can and I won't hear from him. God is always open to us. So if we have faith and open ourselves up to him, he easily enters to reveal himself to us and we can even attain full union with him. This is why faith is so precious.
*Jesus the Truth
I prayed the Glorious Mysteries of the Holy Rosary this morning. The first three mysteries are Resurrection, Ascension, and Descent of the Holy Spirit. If you show me videos of these events, I might question their authenticity, but they were in fact all eyewitnessed by the disciples and in the case of Resurrection and Descent of the Holy Spirit, by a multitude of people. So I believe that they are all true. Besides, if one of them were not, then everything about Jesus cannot be true. Anyway, the best convincing evidence comes down to one's own experience with the Lord. Once you know him, you know that he is the Truth.
***Taking Care of Your Conscience*
Daily examination of conscience is a good practice to perform before we go to bed so that we may not commit the same sins again tomorrow. The Lord showed me a superior way that offers a permanent solution—that is, you surrender yourself to him more and more daily until you attain union with him. Once there, he will totally take care of your conscience and everything else. It's focusing on his power and not on your own weakness that always works out best for us!
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
**Sign of End Times
After Jesus had been detained and sentenced to death, no one came forward openly to defend him. After the crucifixion, standing by the cross were only John, Jesus' mother and her sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Of course, after Jesus rose from the dead, things completely turned around for his followers. Today Christ is being persecuted worldwide, even by his own people, and relatively few come forward to defend him, and we already knew that he had risen from the dead. So our situation is even worse than that of the people of Jesus' days.
***Readying Ourselves for Judgment***
In Luke 21, Jesus said to his disciples, "Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man." Christians are facing tribulations right now. What we'll all face next is the Lord himself, and this will be our most important encounter with anyone of our entire existence. So we must truly be vigilant and pray that we'll have the strength needed for that moment. The great smart move is to submit ourselves to Christ totally to become one with him now, then we'll have all the strength we need for anything.
***Doing God's Will a Delight
From today's Psalm 40, we read "To do your will, O my God, is my delight." Doing God's will does become a delight once you have fallen in love with the Lord. When you are in love, you naturally would want to do everything to please your beloved. Since God is our most holy and loving Father, falling in love with him becomes pure gratifying joy. To get started, all you need to do is open wide to him to let him draw you all the way to his heart.
Monday, October 18, 2021
***What Are You Doing in Life?
Today is the Feast of St. Luke. The Gospel acclamation, John 15.16: I chose you from the world, to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord. To bear fruit for the Lord is what we should be doing. Otherwise, we waste our whole lifetime. Of course, you may not see it that way if you do not believe in Christ yet. Then let me ask you what you are doing. Are you only trying to keep yourself happy while you are in this world or just drifting on, not knowing where you are headed? Either way, you are being myopic and foolish, for you neglect your more precious possession, your soul.
****Praying Without Limit*
I have posted about this before. To reject God, it's easy. You reject him and it's bye-bye forever. On the other hand, to love God, you can love him as much as you want, for there is no upper limit to that. And this is exciting! Now, prayer is the same way. You can say a prayer without paying any attention to it and it'd be worse than having not prayed at all. Or you can say it, meaning every single word with all your heart and focusing 100% on the Lord. And here too there's no upper limit to how sincere and devout you can be. This is also exciting, for you definitely would experience your closeness to the Lord and know that he hears you. An absolutely rewarding experience!
*****Where We Must Never Go!**********
The lava flow that's continuing in its 4th week on La Palma is a terrifying sight. The suffering in hell is even more terrifying, for unlike the lava flow it continues on forever. So for the sake of your soul, aim for heaven. God wants to save all of us from going to hell and we'd better listen to him. I just can't emphasize that enough! I just can't emphasize that enough! I just can't emphasize that enough!
Sunday, October 17, 2021
***That Uncomfortable Feeling
The name Jesus is holy, for he is God. Yet there are many who, even though they may not use his name in vain, do not wish to hear it said. Obviously, the name, unlike any other subject, bothers them. Hearing it makes them feel uncomfortable. This is a clear sign that they need him as they try to avoid him. They should know that their reaction is a grace and that we were all created that way so that we may know that he is exactly the one we need in our lives.
*****Christ Our Greatest Gift
Today's Communion experience. I know that receiving this bread from heaven can and will change me forever. The Lord is now all mine; he's all I need forever.
***How We Are Set Free
Jesus said to those who believed in him, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32) Since Jesus is the truth, knowing him does set us free. So how are we set free? We are set free when we become free of ourselves so that we no longer lord it over ourselves and we let Jesus truly be our Lord. A very cool move.
**Jesus Speaking as Lord
In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus to ask him to grant that in his glory they might sit one at his right and the other at his left. Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" They said to him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared." To me, the fact that Jesus knew exactly the answer to what James and John asked shows that he is indeed the Lord God.
He also said to all the Apostles, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." Here he revealed to us how to be great in heaven and that he was their perfect selfless example.
**A Church Divided
In Luke 11:17, Jesus said, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house." Today, our Church, Christ's body, is completely divided. We have bishops against bishops, cardinals against cardinals, priests against priests, creating great confusion for the laity. If the Church had been united and remained strong, evil wouldn't have been able to infiltrate her. This is the critical time for all Catholics to choose sides, for our souls are at stake. This I know, if we stick with Christ and the original teachings of the Church, our souls will be secure.
*****How Great God's Love Is!
God's love for us is infinite. Our Holy Mother who prays for us unceasingly loves us as her own children. It's not possible for us who are finite beings to feel or imagine how truly great God's loves is. One thing I know, if you can feel it, you'd want to surrender yourself to the Lord completely on the spot.
***Christ Truly My Lord
Attended Sunday Mass this morning. There were so much on my heart I'd like to share with Christ and so much I'd like to receive from his heart. I felt great joy in him and also great sorrow for him. I desired to be one with him more than ever. He truly is my Lord.
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